


An Excuse for Watching

by Finely Honed (jaqen_hgar)



Series: Imagine Tony & Bucky [76]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers Family, Be More Obvious Tony, Confusion, Flirting, Identity Porn, Idiots in Love, Insecure Tony Stark, M/M, Protective Bucky Barnes, Secret Identity, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2016-09-10
Packaged: 2018-08-14 03:41:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7997302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaqen_hgar/pseuds/Finely%20Honed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <span class="small">Prompt: Imagine Steve bringing Bucky to Avengers tower where no one knows Tony is Iron Man. Imagine Bucky finding out (whether tony knows or not is up to the writer) and imagine Bucky thinking Iron Man is like winter soldier, thinking he doesn't remember what happens as Tony when Iron man and vice versa.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>Watching Tony just becomes a thing he <em>does</em>. Curiosity at first, and then… admiration? Bucky isn’t sure <em>why</em> Tony is so fascinating, and has no interest in wasting time being introspective. Tony is simply worth watching, and so Bucky watches, and watches, and happily allows himself to be swept up in a Tony-centric worldview.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Excuse for Watching

**Author's Note:**

> Combined with: Imagine Tony’s identity as Iron Man a secret. He still lives in the tower & sponsors the Avengers post WS, but everyone assumes he’s just Iron Man’s boss & the guy that builds their stuff. Once he moves in, Bucky starts pining after him & getting closer to him, & notices odd injuries & bruises Tony keeps getting (from his Iron Man battles). Maybe Tony gets kidnapped or something & Iron Man’s absence is noted, & Bucky figures it out, rescues Tony, & they tell the others (i.e., WinterIron ID porn)

Bucky still remembers the day Steve introduced them; Tony flinched when they shook hands. At the time, he’d thought it was because Stark had read his file, and wasn’t exactly thrilled to be welcoming a murderer into his home, but later, looking back, it makes more sense.

“Not only does he sponsor the Avengers, he’s responsible for all our equipment.”

Stark looks embarrassed by Steve’s words, shrugs, carefully shoves his hands into his pockets and rocks on his heels. Bucky has a hard time looking away, because something shifts behind Tony’s eyes when Steve starts talking about the one Avenger he hasn’t met yet—Iron Man—and how often he’s saved their collective asses, and how Steve hopes that someday, they’re able to thank him face to face, let him know how much he is valued.

Tony excuses himself, and Bucky watches him go, wondering why Steve looks saddened.

That night, watching the news, he sees footage of the battle from earlier in the day, but didn’t make the connection; whoever was piloting the suit would likely have a broken wrist, which would in turn make shaking hands particularly painful.

+

Watching Tony just becomes a thing he _does_. Curiosity at first, and then… admiration? Bucky isn’t sure _why_ Tony is so fascinating, and has no interest in wasting time being introspective. Tony is simply worth watching, and so Bucky watches, and watches, and happily allows himself to be swept up in a Tony-centric worldview.

Fingers dance in the air, pulling apart lines of code, as if he is conducting, skin awash in the blue glow of his computer interface. He babbles while working, and snacks, and sometimes forgets that Bucky is there in the room with him, and dances. Stretches like a cat.

And so he sees the bruising along Tony’s left flank, angry looking even though it is fading, his stomach flip-flopping painfully. Bucky is willing to bet Tony has at least two cracked ribs, and yet they’re untaped, and he has been acting as if everything is normal.

Bucky resists the urge to make his presence known, to ask what has happened, to press his fingers into Tony’s flesh and see how tender his side might be, determine if he needs medical attention. Then he remembers their last battle, the way Hulk had lost it near the end, and sent Iron Man smashing into a building. The left side of the suit had been bent inward at an unnatural angle, precisely where Tony was injured.

Now he has an excuse for watching.

+

Tony is always separate from the others, even when he’s with them. It makes Bucky sad, prompts him to drape an arm around Tony’s shoulders, pull him into the conversation. Sometimes this works, and it feels like they’re all a team, or some big family of misfits, but the rest of the time Tony acts like he’s intruding, and extracts himself from the camaraderie.

Bucky doesn’t think Tony does it because he dislikes any of them. Maybe he just has trouble  _belonging_. Bucky can sympathize.

So, he tries another approach. One on one, Tony lets his guard down. He never turns Bucky away, made a space for him, even, listens when Bucky needs to talk, talks when Bucky needs to listen. He could go to Tony, and feel safe, and welcomed.

Eventually, he is able to draw Tony out, bring him to team dinners, and movie nights, Tony always attending as a favor to Bucky. They drive Steve up a wall with their ability to turn anything into a dick joke, and he takes to calling Tony by pet names, overjoyed by how Tony tries so hard to pretend he hates it when he clearly doesn’t. Eventually, Tony begins to give as good as he gets, and the team groans whenever they open their mouths.

They are so blatantly flirting with each other that Bucky is able to convince himself it means nothing at all.

+

Iron Man flies into some sort of beam that would likely have fried Hawkeye to a crisp, shoving him to safety as he takes the hit for his teammate. The suit has shielding, but the back of it still looks as if it’d been flambéed. Even through the intentional distortion of the suit’s speakers, Iron Man’s voice sounds clipped and raw with pain, and Bucky has to assume the pilot has been injured.

The Avengers try and fail to convince him to stay behind, and so Iron Man flies off on his own. Bucky watches him go, jaw clenched tight, head pounding. As soon as he is able, he seeks out Tony, only their benefactor has apparently gone on a business trip.

Bucky’s not sure why he’s the only one making the obvious connection.

+

Once Tony returns to the Tower, Bucky confronts him. Or, rather, he intended to confront him, and instead finds himself unable to get his mouth to work properly, mostly because it is so nice to _see_ Tony again. He’d gone and forgotten how long his lashes are, and the way his face scrunches up when he’s smiling one of his genuine smiles, and the wry little twist of his lovely mouth when he says something witty.

“I don’t like it when you’re gone,” Bucky says, confusingly. Tony’s eyes go wide, and Bucky frowns.

“Sorry.” Tony does sound a bit sorry, which is _also_ confusing.

Bucky takes two steps forward, frowns again, and folds his arms across his chest, mostly to keep himself from doing something ridiculous, like tracing the curve of Tony’s jaw, or kissing his forehead. “You should be.”

“James, is everything okay?” Tony asks, and he is the one to reach out and touch, cupping Bucky’s elbow, squeezing.

Sighing, Bucky allows himself a moment to enjoy the contact. “Not even close,” he mutters in Russian before stalking away.

He’s an idiot, no two ways about it. How had he missed the way Tony made his heart race, or how a smile from him twisted Bucky’s insides up in the most pleasantly unpleasant way? Now there was no denying the attraction, no way to look at him and not _want so much more_ than any person should ever be willing to give the likes of him.

+

In a house full of spies and super enhanced humans, there is simply _no fucking way_ that Bucky could be the only one who has put two and two together, and realized Tony Stark is Iron Man.

He stops watching Tony, mostly because it hurts to look at him now. Not just in an emotional way, but also in a physical way, every bit of his body screaming at him that it belonged up close and personal with Tony.

So, watching the others. A worthwhile distraction. It doesn’t take long to decipher everything going on around him. Every last one of them is obviously perfectly aware of the fact that Tony is Iron Man, so what is left is to figure out _why_ no one is talking about the elephant in the room.

+

A bad case of night terrors, and he thinks he figures it out. Shaking under the hot spray of the shower, Bucky slowly convinces himself there is no blood to wash away, and has an eureka moment. Maybe no one can confront him because _Tony_ is unaware of the situation?

Bucky knows what it feels like to have holes where memories _should_ be, or waking to find bruises and injuries where they _shouldn’t_ be. Tony must be so very confused by what is happening. Scared, even. Steve, careful and kind as he was, had brought reality crashing down around Bucky, his words prompting Bucky to question his own grasp on reality, and sense of identity. No one should have to deal with that alone.

Getting out of the shower is suddenly easy. He pulls on whatever clothes are handy, and stalks his way through the Tower until he finds Tony, down in the workshop. Only, it’s in blackout mode, and locked down, and JARVIS gives him a load of shit about Tony being fine, but unable to come to the door.

He feels only a little guilty about punching through the supposedly reinforced glass wall in order to let himself in. Then Bucky feels kind of awkward, because Tony is standing in the center of his workshop, wearing only a tight pair of flight pants, something glowing magnificently in the center of his chest. Bucky spends a moment drinking in the sheer amount of muscle Tony has been hiding under all of his fancy suits, before taking note of the shocked expression on his handsome face.

There’s also the Iron Man gauntlet Tony is wearing on one arm, cables twisting up to connect to the center of his chest.

“Okay, this isn’t what it looks like,” Tony says. “Also, _not cool_ , kitten! Friends don’t ignore locked doors and bust through walls like the Kool-Aid Man!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Bucky snaps, then, “Tony, _you’re Iron Man_.”

“No I’m not.” Tony doesn’t even sound like _he_ believes what he’s saying. “I just work on the suit for him.”

Tony seemed fully aware of himself, his surroundings, what he was doing—working on the suit, obviously—which probably meant Bucky’s alternate personality theory was way off base. Tony _knew_ he was Iron Man, and assumed everyone was too stupid to figure it out.

“Friends don’t lie to each other’s faces,” Bucky felt the need to add before storming off.

After all the time they’d spent together, after all the horrible things Bucky had confessed to remembering, Tony hadn’t trusted him, or cared enough to share his secret. Even when caught red handed.

If he’d just said, “Yes, cupcake, I _am_ Iron Man, but you can’t tell anyone,” Bucky would have been okay with the secrecy, even if it was stupid, and pointless.

“Anything for you, dollface,” he could have said, right before sweeping Tony up into his arms and kissing him so senseless that Tony forgot about the property damage.

Obviously the Iron Man thing was some sort of agreed upon don’t ask, don’t tell situation that the rest of the team was fine with. Tony either didn’t want to be an Avenger, or didn’t think he was worthy of the title. Which was heartbreaking, really, when you got down to it, but also incredibly  _frustrating_.

Apparently, he’d gone and fallen in love with an idiot.

+

Bucky did a really good job of staying clear of Tony, and telling himself he didn’t miss the infuriating, beautiful jerk right up until the idiot went and got himself kidnapped.

“Shouldn’t we call Iron Man?” Maria Hill asked. “He’s worked with Stark longer than any of us.”

The Avengers looked to each other, Captain America eventually stepping up to say, “He’s already out looking for Tony. We’re hoping he can send some intel our way, but I’m not waiting around while a friend is in trouble.”

They go over hours and hours of surveillance footage in record time, mostly because JARVIS combs through everything and flags anything suspicious. Natasha and Clint do their thing, and fill in the blanks, and before too long, the team has Assembled and is heading to Latveria.

Bucky spends the flight sharpening his knives, cleaning his guns, and thinking that if he has the chance, he’s going to kiss Tony Stark’s stupid, infuriating mouth, then literally shake some sense into him before seeing if Tony maybe wanted to spend the next week or so making out on a beach somewhere.

Of course, by the time they get there, the compound is mostly destroyed, and very much on fire, and Tony is in the process of stealing a jet. He looks a bit poleaxed to see the Avengers stroll up.

“Hey, guys, ah, Iron Man was just here, and, um—”

“Are you kidding me?” Bucky snaps, throwing his hands in the air. “Tony, you _ass_ , we all know you’re Iron Man!”

“Seriously?”

Tony’s eyes are very wide. The other Avengers are wincing and shifting uncomfortably. Tony looks at each of them in turn, and they look at their feet, or the sky, or the hunks of smouldering rubble surrounding them, and keep their mouths shut. Steve, the bastard, actually _whistles_ while looking at his watch.

“For how long?” Tony’s voice is high pitched with alam.

“How long is always?” Clint asks.

“And you never said anything?”

Steve sighs. “We worked it into every conversation with you, Tony. Tried to tell you that we’d be proud to have _you_ on the team. You were so committed to the subterfuge… Well, we assumed there were other reasons, and that you’d come around when you were ready.”

The look on Tony’s face isn’t relief, or even shame. It is something Bucky has seen in the mirror once or twice. The look of a man who doesn’t think he’s worth caring about, and isn’t sure how to react when people try to convince him otherwise.

Bucky throws a look Steve’s way, and is happy when the message is received. The Avengers shuffle back to the quinjet to wait for them, while Bucky heads over to Tony, pulls him into a hug.

“Thought you weren’t talking to me.”

For some reason, it makes Bucky smile. Maybe because Tony is hugging him back in a way that makes it seem like he has no intention of letting go anytime soon.

“I was just miffed you didn’t trust me. But, whatever. If you wanna have a stupid secret identity, we can all pretend, and things can go back to the way they were. We’ll do whatever it takes to keep you around, Tony. Especially me.”

“Especially _you_?”

“Thought it was obvious. Guess you’re not the only one with secrets.”

Tony’s eyes are bright when Bucky kisses him. It doesn’t last long, mostly because Tony starts grinning like a goon, right up against Bucky’s mouth, eyes crinkling up at the corners. Bucky pretends to be annoyed, but Tony just laughs, and kisses him back, still smiling too wide for it to be anything other than playful.

“I wanted to tell you,” Tony says. “I just didn’t know how, even when you walked in on me. I’m sorry. I’m an idiot.”

“And yet, I still wanna be with you. Guess that makes me an idiot, too.”

“So, you’re saying… we can be idiots together?”

Tony lets his shields down, and so looking into his eyes, Bucky can see how very much he wants the answer to be yes.

“I like the sound of together.”

Tony tells him about a cave, and waking up to find his world changed. Of Stane’s betrayal, and accidentally endangering Pepper’s life. Bucky understands the reasons why Tony kept quiet a bit better, and tells Tony as much while kissing him properly.

Bucky holds his hand as they walk back to regroup with the team, and it is nice how everyone just folds Tony into the group, doesn’t ask for any explanations, or apologies. Bucky is positive there will be plenty of teasing in Tony’s future, but for now, he is made to feel like part of the family.

**Author's Note:**

> I have such a hard time with identity porn! XD Tony, you're fooling absolutely NO ONE!


End file.
